Today I am celebrating the publication of the above devotional in eBook format (it will be available in print by September). It was the book I was in the middle of writing when I heard that my mum was close to dying, and so the rest of it was written sitting next to her as she took her journey to be with Jesus.

As it is a devotional, and there is an entry called ‘His timing’, which fits with our current weekly series, I thought I’d give you a sneak preview of the contents. The following is taken from day 18 (and is also a passage I have preached on recently – click here for the full preach, or here for a shortened version):

Reflections based on John 11:17–27.

Jesus stayed away when He heard that Lazarus had become ill, because He knew God wanted to work a miracle. But what about Mary and Martha, Lazarus’ sisters? They were not privy to such information. Jesus was a good friend – they had reached out to let Him know about their brother, so must have expected Him to return. They must have been so confused and disappointed when He didn’t appear. And then they suffered the loss of their beloved brother… Lazarus had been dead for four days by the time that Jesus arrived. While Martha went out to see Him, Mary did not. I think I would have been inconsolable by this point – and probably very angry. 

I find it so interesting that Jesus asks Martha to exercise her faith to express who she believes He is before her brother is raised. Often it is in that waiting time – when we can also be dealing with a lot of pain – that displaying our faith is the most difficult, and yet He is still the Messiah, He is the resurrection and the life.

There are many instances in our lives when we don’t understand God’s timing, when He seems to wait to answer our prayers – or perhaps doesn’t even seem to answer them at all. I was really moved and challenged by a eulogy I heard recently. Speaker and writer Priscilla Shirer’s mother had died; she tweeted a video of her brother speaking at the funeral. He had been wrestling with God as to why He let her die and described what God said back to him:

‘There was always only two answers to your prayers. Either she was going to be healed, or she was going to be healed. Either she was going to live, or she was going to live. Either was going to be with family, or she was going to be with family. Either she was going to be well taken care of, or she was going to be well taken care of.’ I certainly found that challenged my perspective.

Prayer: Lord, there are times when I really don’t understand what is happening, and feel the pain acutely. Help me to continue to trust You. Amen.

If you are interested in finding out more about my devotional, please click here.